Automotive manufacturers are currently under pressure to increase the fuel economy of the vehicles they produce, and to decrease their carbon footprint in the manufacturing process. Challenges exist in doing both in an economical fashion while maintaining quality.
Automotive manufacturers are looking at lighter weight materials for vehicle body parts as well as streamlined processing, among other approaches.
Lighter weight materials typically include plastic and composites, but such substrates are often sensitive to the high temperatures usually needed to cure the protective and decorative coatings applied to the substrates. Many of the proposed plastics deform at temperatures as low as 250° F. Moreover, many of these substrates are not consistently electroconductive over their surfaces so that a coating may be evenly applied electrophoretically, resulting in uneven coverage.
It would be desirable to provide lightweight, electroconductive substrates electrophoretically coated with compositions that are curable at temperatures which the substrates can withstand without deformation or loss of other properties, and which demonstrate consistent coating coverage over the surface of the substrate.